Chapter 11

"Well, now that we have figured out the hopelessness of our situation, let's figure out what we can do about it instead of wallowing in our self pity and letting our time to act pass," Gwydion broke into the brooding thoughts of the two monarchs. "If we wait until daylight, we will be too late because our presence will have been discovered by the dead guards and Rhapsody's absence. If we leave now to come upon this demon at a later time, there is no telling what he might accomplish in the mean time. We are going to have to come upon him now and get this thing over with."

"Achmed, Gwydion's right. We have to act now. Though I hate to have you anywhere near that demon. There is no telling what he might be capable of now."

Achmed sighed before standing and once again facing his companions. "So we do this tonight. What do you suggest we do?" He asked turning to Gwydion, "Since you're the one who wants to take care of this demon now.

"Well, first of all we are going to have to get the creature off of the ship and away from his men. It won't do to have to fight both the demon and his crew at once. Once that is accomplished we have to get Rhapsody's sword away from him. That is too much elemental control for us to fight. Finally, I will have to slay the creature while Achmed holds it in thrall."

"It's as easy as that, huh?" Achmed snorted.

"Yes, it's as easy as that," Gwydion replied confidently. "I think I know how to get it to come to us, if you two can figure out the other two parts."

"I can get my sword back. I am sure of that, but how do you plan to go up against such a powerful Namer? He knows your first name Achmed, if he even suspects that your anywhere on this island, he would have enough power over you to make you reveal yourself to him."

"I guess that I will have to remain concealed. I'll wait near the ship for him to emerge and ensure that none of his men follow him. I can then go deeper into the woods and perform the ritual from there. Does he know what I am?"

"Yes."

"Hrekin. Alright, does he know if I am the only one in this land?"

"I don't know. But he does know that we are friends and he may just assume that it is you when he senses the ritual taking place.

"Is there any thing that you can do to distract him from what I am doing?" Achmed asked the singer.

Rhapsody closed her eyes and recalled the first time that she came up against a F'dor…

The Benison stood in furious silence and more than a little pain, absorbing the ringing of the one hundred forty-six bells that now sang…The ground around him was no longer desecrated, but beginning to resanctify, and with it he could feel the draining of his power. He opened his mouth to speak the words of damnation. But he couldn't find them in his memory…

There was another sound here, far older and more terrifying one… It was a sandy sound, one that had not been in his memory in his life time… It was a sound that whispered death.

"Yes, I believe I can distract him. Remember how when we came up against Lanacan and he didn't realize at first that he had been ensnared?"

"Yes, but he did realize it and was still able to work his powers on you."

"Yes, but as long as you had him completely ensnared before he realized what is happening he didn't touch you. Remember it was me that Lanacan tried to stop? He never once tried to stop you, even though he knew that you were the one that held him in the Thrall."

"That is true, I have wondered about that. Michael was only able to attack me because I had not yet finished the ritual. He blew me off the cliff before I had him completely ensnared. But as I recall, Lanacan was unable to move at all when I had him in thrall."

"Yes, so if I can make a distraction large enough, we should have a chance," Rhapsody concluded. The three then came into a huddle to cement the rest of their plans. This was going to be a huge challenge for them, and they needed to be prepared for whatever the demon threw at them.